James Middleton Bravely Reveals His Battle with Depression

James Middleton, the younger brother of Kate and Pippa, is bravely opening up about his secret struggle with depression and being diagnosed with attention-deficit disorder (ADD).

The 31-year-old businessman wrote an op-ed piece for The Daily Mail, which was published just one day after his Instagram account went public.

“I know I’m richly blessed and live a privileged life. But it did not make me immune to depression,” James wrote in the article. “It is tricky to describe the condition. It is not merely sadness. It is an illness, a cancer of the mind.”

“It’s not a feeling but an absence of feelings,” he said. “You exist without purpose or direction. I couldn’t feel joy, excitement or anticipation–only heart-thudding anxiety propelled me out of bed in the morning. I didn’t actually contemplate suicide—but I didn’t want to live in the state of mind I was in either.”

James sought help in 2016 and discovered he had an irregular heartbeat due to stress and anxiety, but he did not address his depression until the end of 2017.

The decision to speak out stems from his sister’s work in the mental health field. He said, “This is precisely what my brother-in-law Prince William, my sister Catherine and Prince Harry are advocating through their mental health charity Heads Together.”

“People have asked me, too, if my public profile has made it harder for me. Would I have become so depressed if I hadn’t been subject to the pressure of public scrutiny that comes with my association with the Royal Family?” he added. “The answer is, I believe I would. But I wouldn’t have found a voice or an outlet for my story if it hadn’t been for the people I’m related to. And that puts me in a unique position of privilege and trust. I feel I have a duty to speak out, so I can help others who are suffering as I did.”